Love in hell
by blackbutterfly101
Summary: A retelling of the battle against Tartarus. When all seems down, can true love conquer all? Previously titled "True love conquers all".
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hi everyone! **

**This is my first time writing a story so I really hope you all like it! Please review and tell me what you think also criticism is accepted.**

**Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. Only this story belongs to me!**

_In a land, far, far away, lies the kingdom of fiore. A small peaceful nation of 17 million and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every market place. For most magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however magic is an art and they have devoted their lives to its practice. These are the Wizards. Banded together into magical guilds, they play out their skills in search of fame and fortune. May such guilds dot the landscape of fiore. But there is a certain guild in a certain town that soars high above the rest, one from which countless legends have been born. A guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. Its name is Fairy Tail._

_**XXXXXXX**_

Jellal stepped into the guild only to be greeted by a table flying towards him. Easily sidestepping, he made his way towards the bar.

"Welcome back Jellal! How was your mission?" Mirajane asked him while placing a glass of water on the table in front of him.

"I didn't get paid all because I broke a stupid vase." He sighed. Grabbing the glass he gulped down all its contents before slamming it back down on the table. "What kind of person doesn't pay a wizard who completes his job?"

"JELLAL! FIGHT ME!" Natsu yelled out. Sighing once again, Jellal got out of his seat and turned around just in time to punch Natsu in the gut.

"ONE SHOT K.O!" Happy yelled, suddenly popping out of nowhere along with Lucy, who was shaking her head.

Gray walked towards the bar and stood next to Natsu, nudging the dragon slayer with his toe. "Geez. What a flame brain."

Natsu immediately got up after hearing that. "Look who's talking squinty eyes! You can't even beat me in a fight!"

"You wanna go at it bastard?"

"Bring it on stripper!"

Immediately the two began to punch each other. From behind them Lucy sighed.

"Gray, your clothes."

"AAAAHHHHH! When did that happen?!"

And within seconds all the mages had begun fighting each other. Natsu and a shirtless Gray were strangling each other. Elfman was yelling about how fighting was manly simultaneously throwing around tables. Cana was gulping down barrels of beer. Lucy and Jellal stood amidst the chaos.

"My, my. Looks like they began to fight again." Mirajane said, with her ever present smile.

Suddenly a gigantic fist slammed down on Natsu. Everyone stopped and looked up at Master Makarov, who stood on the stage. On either side of him stood Erza and Laxus, both trying their best not to laugh at the now squashed fire dragon slayer.

"Listen up brats!" Master Makarovs voice echoed throughout the guild hall. After scanning the guild hall to make sure everyone was listening, he cleared his throat and continued in a stern voice.

"This is an important announcement so you all better pay attention. As you all know the strongest guild from the Balam Alliance, Tartarus, has begun to make their move and as of now have destroyed several villages and guilds for unknown reasons."

There was complete silence in the guild hall.

"Uhm master. I don't think they knew anything about that." Erza whispered to him.

"HUH! What kind of idiots are you! Do you all live under a rock or something?" Angrily he once again slammed his enlarged fist down on Natsu.

"Why me?" Natsu choked out.

"Ah! He got hit again!" Happy exclaimed.

Laxus turned to his grandfather and said with his usual monotone voice "This information was considered highly classified by the council until now. Even Erza and I didn't know until you told us."

"Oh. That so?" Makarov wondered out loud. "Ah sorry my bad!" He laughed returning his fist back to its normal size and crossing his arms. After waiting for Natsu to get up he continued. "As I mentioned before Tartarus has begun to make their move, although we do not know what they are after. Therefore the council has just sent in a SS Class mission request to find out what their goal is and take them down before they do anything more."

"SS CLASS!" Everyone yelled out.

Per usual Elfman was yelling about SS Class missions being manly, Natsu shouting out that he was all fired up and the others were drooling over thoughts of the reward money.

"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed. "Just imagine all the money! I will be able to pay my rent for more than 6 months!"

"Uh Lucy?"

Lucy turned towards Jellal. "What is it Jellal?" she asked, confused.

"Well….. You can't exactly go on this mission"

"WHAT! WHY NOT?"

Before Jellal could answer Makarov interrupted them. "Unlike in an S Class mission, where you must be accompanied by at least one S Class wizard, in a SS Class mission only qualified wizards are allowed to go."

Lucy fell to her knees in a dramatic fashion and cried "Oh cruel world! Why do bad things happen to such an innocent and cute girl like me?"

"Are you alright Lucy?" Jellal asked.

Natsu and happy began to giggle. "Looks like Lucy has finally lost it." They laughed.

A vein pulsed on her forehead. "I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU IDIOTS!"

"Anyway," Makarov continued "I have decide that Laxus and Erza will take this mission. They both have the qualifications necessary and are highly experienced. They will leave tomorrow, however this is not all I wanted to talk about. As you all know Tartarus has taken down countless guilds and thus the council has also requested that all guilds be prepared in the case of an attack. Until this issue is taken care of no one is allowed to accept any missions. Is that understood?"

"Yes master." They grumbled in response.

Within seconds the crowd began to disperse. Lucy sighed and sat down at the closest table while the others followed her. She, Natsu and Happy were seated on one side of the table while Gray and Jellal were seated on the other side.

"Great. At this rate there is no way I'll be able to pay my rent money on time!" Lucy whined.

"Oh come on Luce! Look at the bright side! Maybe we can trick Erza into taking us along with her" Natsu declared.

Jellal stared disbelievingly at Natsu. "Do you honestly think she is going to fall for that?"

"Fall for what?"

The gathered mages turned to see Erza walking towards them and taking a seat next to Jellal.

"Well? What were you guys talking about?" She inquired.

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all!" Lucy answered, clearly nervous. Erza raised a fine eyebrow at her.

"So Erza. You and Laxus are leaving in the morning huh?" Gray interrupted, hoping to start a normal conversation.

Luckily for him though, Erza completely forgot about it.

"Yeah." She then turned to Jellal. "Master wanted to send you as well, but I didn't think it would be great idea to let you get involved with the council just yet."

Jellal sighed. She was right.

Even though it had already been 5 months since Crime Scorciere was proclaimed innocent by the council, there were still a few members against the idea.

Erza looked at Jellal and after a minute continued.

"But you can help by providing any necessary information on Tartarus."

Just then Ultear and Meredy came up to them.

"Looks like you are back Jellal. How did the mission go?"

A gloomy aura surrounded Jellal as everyone at the table stared at him, confused.

"Was it that bad?" they wondered out loud.

Slumping his shoulder dejectedly, Jellal answered "I didn't get paid because I broke a vase"

Next to him Erza giggled, which he thought was adorable.

"Look at the bright side Jellal. This just proves that you really are a Fairy Tail mage now." She smiled at him.

"Uhhh. Yeah. I guess so." A faint blush crept up his neck.

Ultear bent down and whispered to Jellal in a teasing manner "Looks like the great former master of Crime Scorciere is blushing."

Jellal let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hands through his hair. There was no going back once Ultear started teasing him.

Meredy smiled at Erza and answered her earlier question.

"We don't really know much about Tartarus except that it consists of 9 members."

Erza smiled back at the young mage. "Thank you. It's better than nothing."

"Well I guess I better get going. It's going to be a long journey tomorrow so I better get some sleep. Bye guys." Erza stood up and waved at the group before leaving.

"Bye!" they waved back.

Jellal merely stared at Erzas back with furrowed brows.

Meredy noticing this asked "Is everything all right Jellal?"

"I don't know Meredy. I have this feeling that something really bad is going to happen." He replied his eyes never leaving the retreating figure.

"Relax Jellal. She'll be fine. I mean she has been on dangerous jobs before right?"

"Yeah but…" He didn't complete his sentence.

Even thought Erza had been on her fair share of dangerous missions, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going to happen this time. It wasn't just her he was worried about, but also Laxus who was going on the mission as well as the entire guild. He wished he could go along as well, but it wasn't an option.

_Unless…._

Within mere seconds, Jellal had gotten up and was half way up the stairs, leaving his comrades staring at his back.

"What's up with him?" Natsu asked.

The other merely shrugged in response.

_**XXXXXXX**_

Master Makarov sat at his table, quitely looking at the blue haired mage in front of him.

"I'm sorry but I cannot let you go on this mission."

"But why not?"

"What else do you think?"

Jellal sighed in defeat.

"Look. I do understand how you feel. Even I have a feeling that something is going to happen. In all honesty, it shouldn't be bothering me. Those two are extremely capable wizards and should be fine. And that's why I want you to stop worrying as well. Is that understood?"

"Actually there is something else that is bothering me as well."

Makarov raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue.

"Well even though the council does not know much about Tartarus, during my time as a member we had collected enough information to prove a few things. One, is that even though there are just 9 members, each one of them is powerful enough to wipe out an entire army easily. The second id that….."

"What is it Jellal?" Makarov asked in a serious tone.

Sighing, he continued. "It's that they are all…. They are all demons from the book of Zeref."

_**XXXXXXX**_

**A/N: okay I was supposed to re-write this chapter completely but I kinda got lazy so sorry. Anyway please review and tell me what you think. Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The nightmare begins.

**A/N: Hi again! So sorry for the late update. I have been really busy.**

**I forgot to a mention that this is sort of an AU. Which means that it is a completely different take on the Tartarus arc. For those of you who are not reading the manga, you might not know about the Tartarus arc so sorry for not mentioning this earlier! Also I have added a scene or 2 in the last chapter, so please do read that before reading this one.**

**Anyway on to the story!**

The train station was filled with people bustling in and out. Most were mages who were traveling for their jobs, and others were normal humans leaving for or returning from business trips. All in all, it was peaceful.

Erza and Laxus stood outside, looking for a carriage to take them to the next town. Or more precisely, what used to be the next town until it was attacked by Tartarus. Erza had suggested that maybe they might find traces of magic left by the dark mages, thus providing further help. However, unfortunately for them, none of the drivers were happy about going there. Apparently there were rumours spreading around that the spirits of the deceased haunt the ones who dare to enter their land.

Erza let out an exhausted sigh. "Why don't we get ourselves a room for now." She suggested, turning towards Laxus. "It's already evening and by the time we get there and return by foot, it will be past midnight."

"Yeah." He muttered in response and made his way towards the nearest hotel, leaving Erza to catch up with his long strides. Once she did, the two mages walked towards their destination quitely. Until Laxus decided to break the ice.

"So, what's the plan?"

"For now all we can do is try to gather enough information. The Council agreed to send in a few reports about the attacks recently. Problem is, even they don't know the location of the guild and its members. We can't bring down a guild if we don't know their base of operations." Erza sighed.

After 15 minutes of walking silently, the duo reached the closest hotel.

"Here you go ma'am!" said the receptionist. "The key for your 2 bedroom suite. Hope you enjoy your stay!"

Grabbing the key and muttering a quick "Thank you" to the man at the reception, Erza and Laxus made their way towards their room. And as soon as they did, they both threw their very little luggage aside (Laxus refused to let Erza bring her usual load and thus she had to manage with only one bag, much to her dismay), and seated themselves on the large comfy looking sofa in the living room, clearly exhausted due to the long journey.

Erza lifter her legs and rested them on the coffee table in front of her. Unfortunately for her, as soon as she got comfortable the doorbell rang. Letting out an exhausted sigh, Erza got up and made her way towards the door. Upon answering the door, she was greeted by a tall man about her age with wavy blonde hair and piercing honey coloured eyes. Then she noticed a large stack of files in his arms.

"You must be from the council. I am sorry to keep you waiting like that. Please do come in." Erza stepped aside to let the man pass through.

After staring at her for what seemed like ages the man nodded and walked past her. Setting down the large pile of files on the coffee table, he looked up at Erza, completely ignoring Laxus seated in front of him, and introduced himself with a smile.

"Hello. My name is Jake Radford." He said, making his way towards the redhead. "It is a pleasure to be meeting someone as amazing as you in person, Miss. Erza Scarlet."

Now standing in front of her, Jake took her hand and bent down, placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. "Can I just say that the pictures of you in the magazine do you no justice. You are much more beautiful in real life."

"Umm, Th-thank you."

Laxus noticed, much to his amusement, and faint blush dusting Erzas cheeks. From the looks of it she was clearly embarrassed and did not know how to respond to such gentlemanly behaviour.

Slowly taking back her hand from Jakes grasp, Erza cleared her throat and straightened herself before making her way back towards the open door.

"Thank you very much for making time to personally deliver these records. As for now you can leave the rest to us and I assure you that we will do everything in our power to complete this mission." She said holding the door open for the man to leave, with a fake smile. As much as she did like socializing, Erza couldn't help but feel extremely uncomfortable in front him and couldn't wait till he walked out the door.

Jake, however, had other plans. "Oh, I am sorry but I believe you did not get the message. I will be your escort for this mission." He explained with a bright smile.

The smile on Erzas face fell. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Hold on a sec. You mean to say that the council has sent someone to _help us _on this mission?" She inquired.

Only then did Laxus decide to speak up.

"Look. As much we really do appreciate your concern, we do not want you to waste your time here when you obviously have more important matters to attend to. As a matter of fact, I don't think you are going to even _want_ to be with us, considering the danger involved that is." He said. After noticing his formal tone, which he rarely ever used, Erza realized that Laxus wanted this man gone just as much as she did.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not notice you there." Jake said, his smile never faltering. "And about the mission, I was sent because I volunteered for this job. I live in this city so it is not much of a problem. Also I honestly think you are going to need some help with _that_." He motioned to large pile of files he brought in earlier.

"Now with that said," he grabbed a file and sat down on the sofa next to Laxus. "Let's get to work shall we."

Erza who was still holding the door open, slammed it shut and made her way towards one of the bedrooms.

Laxus, noticing this asked "Where are you going?"

With an exhausted sigh she replied "To get some rest. I feel really tired after that journey and I just want to take a nap. Wake me up when you are about to order dinner."

Upon entering the room and closing the door behind her, she jumped onto the bed. Erza lay there for about 15 minutes, all the while thinking about Jellal. She knew for a fact that he wanted to help out on this job and she couldn't help but want him to come along too. And now instead of him she ended up having to work with _Jake_.

Sighing once again she said to nobody in particular. "This is going to be a nightmare."

**A/N: I'm sorry about this chapter being kinda short. Anyway, please do review and tell me what you think is going to happen in the next chapter. **

**Bye for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

**A/N: Hey guys! You all are most probably really annoyed at the fact that I haven't posted a new chapter in so long, but I can't help it! I had to go for a month long vacation and then I had to catch up with school work, take part in some competitions in school and then study for exams. But finally winter holidays are here, although since I live in Sri Lanka there is no winter but we still get holidays for Xmas, and now I can finally concentrate on my story. Alright my lovely readers, here is chapter 3!**

Blood. Blood everywhere. The only thing that remained of this once beautiful town was nothing but rubble. Dead bodies dotted the previously peaceful street and that just made the task of looking for clues harder than it already was for Erza. The only thing that the blood helped with was resurfacing unwanted memories.

"You guys find anything yet?" A voice called out from behind her. Jake.

"No. At least nothing that could be of any help." Laxus called out from somewhere amidst the ruins. "What about you Erza?"

"No." She replied, running her hands through her hair in frustration. It had been a week since she and Laxus began their quest, and still they were not able to find anything that would be of any use. And the fact that they had a council man constantly following them around as an "escort" wasn't really improving her mood.

Within the course of the past week they had already investigated all the towns and villages that had been previously attacked and were now in a town that was targeted just 3 days ago. Even after spending almost every night reviewing reports about the attacks, Erza was not able to find any connections whatsoever between the villages, much to her dismay.

After another 2 hours of thorough searching, the trio decided to head back to their hotel. Partly because they wanted to see if the council had sent in any more reports and partly because Jake was hungry. By the time they were able to find a carriage that wasn't ridiculously expensive, these drivers must be crazy if they believe that 500 Jewels was a reasonable price for a 15 minutes ride, it was already sun down.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a Wyvern." Jake complained. "Can we please stop at a fast food restaurant before we get to the hotel? It's past dinner time too."

"Alright" Erza replied "but didn't you guys have burgers last night? You boys keep up this kind of diet and you'll die of heart diseases in no time." She said sternly.

Jake goofily smiled at her before replying. "We are all wizards here which basically means we have to have a lot of energy to fight. And besides, like they say 'People who love to eat are the best.'"

But before she could say anything they heard an ear piercing scream. The carriage came into an abrupt stop and the horses began whinnying. The driver.

Instinctively all three of them jumped out and got into battle stances only to find the driver kneeling on the road next to a body of a young woman wearing tattered clothes covered in blood. Erza kneeled down near the body and checked for a pulse while laxus asked the driver what happened.

"I didn't run her over! I swear! I thought I saw something on the road so switch on my flash light only to see that body lying on the ground! I've never seen a dead body in my life so that's why I screamed! Please believe me!" he pleaded to the two boys.

"We believe you. Ok? So just calm down. We will take it from here." Jake told the man.

Erza didn't pay much attention to the conversation after that. When she was looking for a pulse she didn't find anything at first but then she left a weak throb against her fingers. Breathing a sigh of relief she then checked the woman body for any wounds. Mostly, all she could find were a few bruises and scratches but then she noticed a large stab wound on the girls side. Erza looked up and motioned to the boys to carry her to the carriage.

"I can feel a faint pulse but her wound seems really bad. She has already lost a lot of blood so we need to hurry and take her to the hospital in the town." She explained while Laxus laid the girl down on the seats. The girl winced and muttered something incoherently.

Jake quickly took off his jackets and tore a large strip from it and handed it to Erza who promptly bound the girls' wounds. Once she was done all of them crowded on the opposite seat. Waiting patiently.

While they were waiting Erza stole a glance at Jake, remembering how annoying she thought he was in the past week. He always made sarcastic comments and played pranks on them. Once he even switched the shaving cream with whipped cream (god knows how he managed to pull that off) and when Laxus tried to use it he nicked his cheek (as he always does) and cursed violently at the stinging pain it causes him. Well, that one she found kind of funny and laughed along with Jake till her sides hurt but it wasn't even half as funny when he switched her shampoo with mayonnaise (seriously, how does he do that?). Yet he was always helpful and kind, well not so much the latter, and was very good at his job. He was also very much secretive, not that she wanted to pry. She understood more than anyone that there were some things that couldn't be told out loud to just every random person you meet. But there wasn't much that she knew about Jake, except for his full name, age and occupation.

Her train of thoughts were interrupted as the girl lying in front of her began to stir. Her eyebrows furrowed in pain as she once mumbled in her sleep. Erza was able to catch only one word. And that one word was enough to send shivers down her spine.

"Zeref."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here it is! The long awaited chapter 4!**

* * *

A tall cloaked figure made his way through the streets of Magnolia. None of the sales people dared to stop him and neither did he pause to look at the lively stores lining the streets. The figure turned and walked deep into an alley before finally stopping to lean against the dirty brick wall, looking as though he was waiting for someone.

The setting sun caused the alley to look like but a mere eerie shadow. The alley basically screamed trouble to the occasional passer-by. The spooky factor was exactly what made this place and time the perfect opportunity for a secret meeting.

An approaching shadow alerted the figure to a presence. A presence belonging to none other than the rugged looking council man, Doranbolt. His boots thumping against the ground, he walked towards the wall mirroring the position of his company.

A heated discussion. An exchange of hushed whispers. A minute of silence and the cloaked figure began to make his way towards the exit. A question from the council man stopped him.

"I heard you broke a vase on your last mission."

The man turned to see the smirking Doranbolt.

"Well that part wasn't exactly a lie." was all he said before the walked out of the alley and into the bustling streets.

* * *

"Natsu! Hurry up! We better get to the village quick, it's almost sundown!" Lucy yelled, standing atop a hill.

Grumbling a response, Natsu began climbing reluctantly. They had been walking the whole day and his feet were killing him. Even Happy was exhausted and yet Lucy seemed as energetic as ever. Then again when it came down to going on jobs in order to pay her rent she was always hyper active.

Chuckling to himself Natsu looked up at the top of the hill only to see the blonde missing.

_Huh. That's weird. She was there just a second ago. Maybe she got tired of waiting and went on ahead._

"Yo Happy! Do you see Lucy up ahead?" Natsu looked up at the sky. But even his blue furred friend was nowhere to be seen. He ran up the hill expecting to see both of his best friends already making their way towards their destination. However the site that greeted him was nothing that he had ever expected.

Lucy and Happy were both not there but someone else was. Or judging by the smell _something. _

The _thing_ stood with its back turned towards him and looked just like a human girl, with long straight hair and an ancient looking long sword strapped to a belt worn on her hip.

He was greeted with a pair of blood red eyes with pure black scleras. Her skin was as pale as a corpses and her hair…..

_Her hair._

_Her scent._

_No way…_

And then the girl spoke.

* * *

Natsu sat up quickly. Sweat beaded his forehead and dripped down his back. He looked around and noticed that he was asleep on a bed and in the bed next to him slept Lucy. Happy snored at the foot of the bed that Natsu was currently on.

He remembered leaving for a job with Lucy and Happy and he also remembered arriving at the village safely.

That dream. It seemed almost too real to him. Not to mention that girl. He _knew _her. But for some strange reason. He couldn't remember. The image of that girl faded away until he couldn't remember anything. Anything but those words.

* * *

A loud knocking on the door awoke the almost asleep Makarov. He had dozed off in his office while doing some paper work. Groaning at the remaining stack he looked up at the clock on the wall. Eleven o'clock. Another knock.

Makarov picked up his pen as he asked the visitor to come in. He didn't need to look up to know who had entered.

"Master Makarov." The man's voice echoed through the silent room.

Slowly the guild master put down his pen and looked at the blue haired man and his two female companions.

"I came here to tell you that we are leaving." Jellal said. Not a question.

"I hope you are not going to interfere with the SS class mission." was all the old man said in reply.

Jellal didn't answer. Makarov sighed through his nose.

"Do you remember why I asked you not to go on that mission?"

This time Ultear spoke up."I know I promised that we wouldn't interfere with any of your job requests but Tartarus has information on Zerefs whereabouts. We have to take him down before he begins his massacre. If there is anything that Erza and Laxus were able to get on Tartarus then it would be extremely helpful..."

The time mage stopped speaking after noticing Makarovs' frown lines deepen.

"What happened?" Meredy asked.

The Master merely looked at them for a long time before finally replying.

"I haven't been able to contact them since yesterday."

His thought raced at a mile per minute as tried to think of reasons so as to why the two mages hadn't informed their guild master of their progress. They might have been too busy or maybe they had run into one or more of the dark guild mages. Even if they did Jellal knew for a fact that they Would have no problem what so ever in taking down those demons. But the bad feeling he had when Erza and Laxus had left for the mission still hadn't left his mind.

Something was very wrong and it irritated him that he hadn't figured out what it was.

"I am sure those two are just fine. I think we should be feeling sorry for who ever tried attacking them." Jellal said as he broke the suffocating silence that surrounded them.

Makarov relaxed visibly and chuckled. "I guess I should begin preparing myself to face the consequences of the destruction those are going to cause." he laughed.

Meredy and Ultear laughed a little bit too at that.

The trio then bade their farewells to the old guild master and left the building.

* * *

**A/N: Shits going doowwwn~~~~**

**Anyway here is chapter 4! I hope you all liked it and now since I have my own laptop and almost done with school I will be able to update more often. Please review and tell me what you think Jellal is up to and what could have happened to Erza and Laxus or even just whether or not you guys like it. It really makes my day when you do.**

**Once again thank you so much for reading!**


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